Collison Chokes on Cordish Column

We never thought we’d say this, but The Pitch has out-reported The Kansas City Star. On the same topic, in the same week, The Pitch’s coverage was more timely, more on point, and more accurate.

The Source has reported now several times on The Cordish Company’s attempts to squash local competition by bullying the city and state into not passing a new festival districts law. We have also documented the thousands of dollars Cordish executives have given to Kay Barnes’s congressional campaign as payback for her support in getting them a favorable contract and for her help in getting favorable legislation in Jefferson City.

Within hours of our last report the Pitch published a hard hitting blog post which not only covered the issue well, it brought to light new information. For instance, The Pitch points out that Cordish’s lawyer, the same lawyer who is now bullying the city, also contributed to Barnes’s campaign to the tune of $4600. The article also produced the first copy of the letter sent to the city. Most importantly, The Pitch counters Cordish’s silly suggestion that campaign cash may be driving the city’s decision by pointing out the hypocrisy of Cordish’s efforts to buy favor with Kay Barnes.

Contrast that with this morning’s Kansas City Star piece by Kevin Collison. The Star, five days late, covers the basics of the story, but adds nothing new. Unbelievably they proffer Cordish’s theory about contributions driving the city’s position without ever mentioning Cordish’s own history of buying their way to favorable results. While Collison gets comments from some of the players, none really adds facts to the story; in fact the most telling comment may be a “no comment” from the Cordish lawyer.

Cordish has been on the front burner of Kansas City news since their inability to open the Power & Light District when promised. The inability of The Star to cover this story properly reflects badly on their overall ability to cover the stories that really matter to Kansas City voters.